March 10, 2013
Dabur At a Glance 1.Turnover of Rs. 5,283 Crore (FY12) 2. 2 major strategic business units (SBU) 3. Consumer Care Business 4. International Business Division (IBD) […]
February 17, 2013
Pantaloons Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited is a large Indian retailer firm. It is a part of the Future Group and operates in multiple retail formats in both […]
February 17, 2012
Renewable Energy Industry is going through some of the toughest times yet with profits and share prices of Green Companies crashing. 2011 was a horrendous year with the biggest solar company by value First Solar being the worst performer in S&P 500. Many of the biggest wind and solar companies were mired in red ink as competition and oversupply from China led to green indicies falling by more than 50% . Many of the biggest companies collapsed and many others are on lifeline.
February 1, 2012
Solar and Wind Stocks have been massacred in 2011 mainly due to the following reasons
1) Chinese oversupply which is outcome of its massive industrial overcapacity and investment. This has decimated wind and solar companies in the West while also leading to margins and profits collapsing
2) Commoditazation of Technology and Erosion of Entry Barriers
3) Massive and Irrational Subsidies by Asian countries to support Green Industry
January 16, 2012
Xinjiang Goldwind Science and Technology Co (Goldwind) is the 2nd biggest Chinese wind turbine producer and amongst the top 5 wind turbine companies in the world. Goldwind stock has been punished alongwith other Chinese wind turbine stocks as a fierce price war in the Chinese market has led to nosediving margins and revenues. There is massive overcapacity in the Chinese wind market as there are around 100 odd producers of wind turbines with 7 out of the 15 top global wind turbine makers. Chinese Government policies have been changed to weed out the smaller inefficient wind turbine makers, however the competition still remains quite high just like the Solar Panel Industry.
January 6, 2012
China adds around 100 GW of Electric Power Capacity each year to meet the growing energy demands of its population.Most of it is thermal power which is becoming costlier besides the dangerous disadvantages of coal.China has been trying to increase its hydro and nuclear power capacity,but nuclear energy has recived a setback with Fukushima.Solar Power in China is also increasing but it will take time as well to satisfy the electricity deficit.China is already the largest wind power market in the world installing almost 50% of the wind capacity in 2010.It intends to keep up the furious pace of wind turbine installations at around 25 GW per year for the next 35 years to reach 1000 GW by 2050.China already has around 7 of the top 15 wind turbine producers.However a vicious price war has thrown a lot of the wind producers into bankruptcy.
July 8, 2011
India has faced a revolution literally in all wakes. With the rise in dispensable income, there is high consumerism in the country. With opening up of the emerging markets, the cosmetic companies are broadening in response to the vast diversity of populations. The Indian face wants to look good. The Indian Women are no longer limited to their homes, but have come out & are walking with the same pace as the men. Hence they are more conscious of their looks & are widely opting for the cosmetics that is available in the market. It is not only the female section of the society, who use beauty & cosmetic range but the Indian men too are worried about their looks. There are lot of products specially designed for men too. The cosmetic companies not only produce the traditional makeup items like compact, mascara or lipsticks, but are rapidly adapting themselves to the changing demands of its customers. Today the markets offer a wide range of cosmetic products to choose from. There are smart products like anti-aging solutions, concealers which has taken a lady's beauty to a new level. Fragrances, body lotions, hair products, hand & foot care products, you name it & you have it. There are products to suit each age group & each requirement.
July 5, 2011
The Indian vegetable oil economy is the fourth largest in the world after US, China & Brazil. Since 1995, India's share has been 10% of the world production of oilseeds. A wide range of oilseeds crops grow in India. Groundnut, soyabean & mustard together contribute 85% of India's oilseeds production, as per a report by Indian law office. Mustard oil is the third largest edible oil produced in the world after Soy oil and Palm oil. At a production level of 13-14 million tons, it accounts for about 12% of the total World's edible oil production.The Indian market in volume and revenue terms is quite large and has seen increasing investment from foreign players.However the margins in this industry are quite low which implies that the profitability is much lower in the Edible Oil Market in India.There are also large regional players which have strengths in their domestic turf.The Edible Oil Sector has seen a number of M&A deals in recent times as well.KS Oils which is a large player back by some of the top name PE has been in trouble in recent times due to its large debt.
April 5, 2011
The Indian Paper Industry makes a small 1.5% of the global production of paper and parperboard with a size of around 5.5 billion dollars. The industry was delicenced in 1997 by the Government of India and made foreign participation permissible. Most of the paper mills are in existence for a long time and hence present technologies fall in a wide spectrum ranging from oldest to the most modern.The mills use a variety of raw material eg. wood, bamboo, recycled fibre, bagasse, wheat straw, rice husk & 44% of recycled fibre. India is the fastest growing market for paper globally with paper consumption set to rise with the economic growth and is estimated to touch 14 million tons in the next 5 years from 6 million tons (Source IPMA)
April 4, 2011
India's Economy is expected to grow by around 8% in the next decade making it one of the fastest growing major economies in the world.India's per capita has been rising constantly since the last 2 decades and is expected to continue this rising trend as well.Despite growing inequality in incomes,India's massive population ensures that even by 15% of India's poor enter the middle class it adds a Brazil to the addressable market for Indian consumer companies.Indian Consumer Companies especially the well managed ones with good corporate governance has given spectacular growth to investors.Companies like Titan Industries have become a multibagger stock in the last few years driven by excellent growth and decent margins.Note many of the bigger consumer durable companies in India are not listed here but have a major presence.In Electronics particuarly companies like Samsung,LG,Sony,Philips have a big marketshare but are not listed on the markets.However a number of Indian Consumer Discretionary Stocks are listed and have given huge returns to investors.
April 4, 2011
India's GDP unlike that of other emerging developing countries has a bigger consumer percentage than investment.This is because India's economic growth model has not followed the tradiotional export growth model of the other countries in Asia like China.This makes India more resilient to external shocks like the Lehman crisis and provides a more domestic orientation to growth.India has one of the fastest growing economics in the world and as the per capita income increase,consumer companies in India are reaping outsized rewards.India has a competitive consumer goods market with a number of domestic and international companies competing in multiple markets and segments.Some of the companies like HLL which is a subsidiary of the global consumer giant Unilever has become an Indian company all but in ownership.Note Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies are different from Consumer Durables companies.FMGC companies are what is known as Consumer Non-Discretionary Group of Companies.These Companies sell products of everyday use and are recession proof in the sense that the products sold by FMCG Manufacturers can't be ignored even in times of economic recessions.
March 16, 2011
Algae Based Biofuels have been hyped in the media as a potential panacea to our Crude Oil based Transportation problems. Algae Based Biofuels as a Green Investing Opportunity is still some years away as the technology is still quite nascent.Despite a lot of hoopla and a number of IPO’s with synthetic biofuels as business,large scale commercial production and profits are still some time away.However the promise of this technology to revolutionize the Fossil Fuel powered Transportation Sector is Huge.Large Oil and Gas is already positioning itself in a small way to take advantage of this opportunity.Shell has been the biggest investor in Biofuels with a $12 Billion tie up with Brazilian Sugar Giant Cosan.The advantages of Algae Biofuels are being propagated by strong backers like Bill Gates ,Rockefeller family and Exxon Mobil.The main advantages of algae based biofuels are Efficient Land Usage,Reduction in Global Warming affect and ability to be directly used in vehicles and aircraft.However Algae Biofuel Technology is still quite immature despite startups like Solazyme,Algenol,Sapphire Energy and Synthetic Genomics having made impressive strides.
March 10, 2011
Wind Turbine (WTG) Companies are increasingly facing competition from a host of new entrants into the industry.The dominants firms like Vestas,Gamesa,GE,Siemens and Suzlon have seen their stock prices fall steeply due to declining revenues and margins.A number of Giant Industrial Firms have entered the Wind Energy Industry to diversify from the slow growth in their own sectors.Korean Shipbuilders have invested heavily in the Wind Turbine Manufacturing en masse to take advantage of the secular growth of Wind Energy.Chinese companies have risen from virtually nothing 5 years ago to become Top 5 Global Wind Energy Players.The Chinese companies have seen massive growth on the back of a strongly growing domestic market.China which now accounts of 50% of the world Wind Turbine market in 2010 is expected to see continued strong growth with the Chinese government setting a target of more than 100 GW by 2015.Here is a list of the major Wind Power Companies in the World.